Bergen Batting Center New Website Is Live – The new site combines our old facility site with updates and a new e-commerce site. It is hard to match all the product constantly coming and going in our physical store, but we are adding more product to the site every week. The new site also has a pre-order option for new unreleased bats from time to time as well. Take a look and tell us what you think. Your input is greatly appreciated!!

NEW 10 YEAR Anniversary Special – Our new 10 year special is a shirt + cup combo for only $5.

The special runs this Thursday through Sunday (June 30-July 3) and features our new 2011 USA patriotic logo T shirt and our 10thanniversary collector’s cup (Do you have all the years since 2001?). This Jerzees 50/50 blend is a comfortable and wrinkle free shirt which will look great on July 4th or any day of the year. Only $5 with any purchase (including batting) through Sunday July 3rd. We appreciate your support entering our 11th year as the premier baseball and softball equipment and batting cage facility.

There will be no more confusion, no more questions. It’s simple: every high school baseball player must use the new BBCOR certified bats for 2012. All new bats must have one very recognizable new stamp on it. The stamp shows “BBCOR” and will have the word “Certified” under the letters “BBCOR”, and then “.50” to the right of that. See below the official stamp.

Umpires will now have an easy job with it in 2012 after a confusing 2011 season where legal bats were mistakenly thrown out of games and illegal bats were used. During an important game in Bergen County, one illegal bat was even pictured on the front page of The Record sports section. The picture was not about the bat being illegal or even about the bat at all, just a picture of a hitter in an important game. Trying to keep track of the illegal and legal bats was just too much for umpires, coaches, parents, and some players. 2012 will bring much needed relief to umpires and everyone in this regard.

That’s it plain and simple. It doesn’t matter if the bat is made of composite, alloy, alloy handle – composite barrel, doesn’t matter! It can be made of almost anything. As long as the bat has the BBCOR stamp on it, it is legal. No other bats will be accepted. Period, end of story. This makes it easy on the players, coaches, umpires, dealers, manufacturers, retailers, and parents.

The new rating standard’s performance has turned the bat world upside down, literally. The -3 BESR bat that costs $39.99 before, now hits like a new $400 BBCOR bat. Isn’t that something!

In plain English, the new BBCOR bats hit like a good wood bat. BBCOR bats are bad performers compared to the former BESR standard. Hitters will mourn and pitchers will celebrate. Hitters batting averages will take a dip next year, as well as pitchers ERA’s. Hitter’s power numbers will decline as extra base hits and home run production will be dramatically reduced. It’s happened in college this year as BBCOR bats began play for 2011 in college. For pitchers, it’s the new Golden Era (no pun intended but I’ll take it – “ERA=Earned Run Average”).

There have been more than just performance issues with the early generations of the BBCOR bats. Some of the problem has to do with an inner disk that the manufacturers used at the sweet spot to deaden bats. This was a quick fix to rush product out in time for the colleges in 2011 to use. One of the best manufacturers of bats, DeMarini, produced one of the worst BBCOR bats produced initially. A little know company called Rip-It has so far produced one of the best. Rawlings, known as a glove company has produced a bat the College World Series finalists are using this year. Go figure! Performance is no longer something that only the best bat makers can actually dominate with superior technology as in the prior decade, at least not just yet. The next step is trying to figure out how to make the sweet spot larger, which to date has never been done even though almost every bat manufacturer at one time or another has claimed to do successfully.

The best bat manufacturers over the past 10 years may not be the best anymore. The bat world has changed. Demo the BBCOR bats and see for yourself.

Bergen Batting Center reserves the right to match prices in the event you find a lower price than our everyday price. Just bring in the current ad or website (approval by MOD or PSM). All compared items must include price with shipping charges and must be in stock. Price match will be given in batting cage credit.